National Geographic 125 Years at Annenberg Space for Photography

To celebrate 125 years of the National Geographic magazine excellence in photography and environmental storytelling, the Annenberg Space for Photography is curating what promises to be one of the largest multimedia exhibitions of its kind with hundreds of images on display: including print, digital instillations and documentary films. The sheer scale of the exhibition, which coincides with October’s National Geographic’s commemorative magazine, will no doubt warrant more than one visit.

I spoke to Patricia Lanza, Director of Talent and Content at Annenberg Space for Photography, about possibly one of the largest photography exhibitions of its kind.

GL: Congratulations on putting together and presenting what appears to be a rather dauntingly large exhibition of photography and multimedia. The sheer numbers of images on display, the videos and film – to actually whittle it down to 400 historical images from the National Geographic and the 500-plus images in the digital installation must have been a long, yet enjoyable process.

How long has the planning taken?

PL: The planning has taken over a year.

GL: Are the images categorized in the their own subheadings: such as people, country, endangered, photographer, etc?

PL: The images are in thematic sections:

People/Culture

Environment

Exploration

Icons

America (general themes)

and the October 2103 Issue. October is the anniversary month for both National Geographic Magazine and the National Geographic Society, so there will be images from one of the world’s greatest repositories of photojournalism, as well as new material being commissioned for the October issue of the magazine.

GL: Is there any indication from this huge exhibition that the printed edition of National Geographic is coming to a close?

PL: No. This exhibition was a way to show some of the scope and depth of National Geographic’s 125-year collection – not just the iconic images but whole stories. NGS is famous for its storytelling journalism and this is a spectacular way of highlighting that.

GL: Will we learn of future developments within National Geographic from this exhibition?

PL: This is a very innovative and forward-looking way to experience an exhibition. Nophotography exhibition has been done on this scale in this way, mainly because until now, the technology for presentation on video screens wasn’t up to the quality of displaying it on a video monitor. This opens the door for a different way to experience photography of this caliber.

GL: What do you hope people will learn from The Power of Photography: National Geographic 125 Years?

PL: The importance of having a photographic history of all forms of life on earth and beyond; the importance of how photography can alter your way of thinking and start a dialogue and the importance and immeasurable value of what photography and photojournalism contribute to our awareness and our consciousness.

Ginger Liu is a Photographer/Filmmaker/Writer. Based in Los Angeles, she travels extensively and is a long-time contributor to Ragazine.CC. You can read more about her in About Us, and on her blog and website and on Flickr.